Caster



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

S. C. MENDENHALL.

GASTER.

No. 314,960. Patented Mar. 31, 1885.

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caster, however,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

STEPHEN C. MENDENHALL, OF RIGHMGND, INDIANA.

CASTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 314,960, dated lvlarch 31, 1885. Application filed October 4, 1884. (No model.)

T0 @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, STEPHEN C. MENDEN- HALL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Richmond, in the county of Vayne and State of Indiana, (present business address Cincinnati,Ohio,) have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Casters for Furniture and other Articles, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates, primarily, to oscil lating two door-wheel casters; and it consists, more especially, in casting or forming the axle of such a caster with bearings for a vertical anti-friction roller above, and for the horizontal arm of a malleable or wroughtiron spindle below. The advantage of this arrangement is that both the oscillating and the anti-friction movement are taken up directly by the axle-piece, much simplifying` the construction of such casters. The axle-piece is preferably cast in one piece,of malleable iron, so that the ends of its spindle may be riveted over for retaining the floor-wheels thereon. rIhe spindle employed may have its vertical part either solid or hollow, to engage with a hollow or a solid projection, respectively, from the furnitureplate. The two constructions are equivalent, the main desideratum being to obtain a slight sliding movement between the spindle and the furniture-plate necessary in a construction of oscillating caster in which the Whole weight of the furniture is taken up by a vertical anti-friction roller supported on the axle, and the spindle is journaled in a different horizontal plane from said roller.

for ordinary uses, is one in which the vertical portion of the spindle is solid, to adapt it'to occupy a socket in the furniture. Such socket may be formed with a cylindrical neck projecting both above and below the furniture-plate to give both upper and lower bearing to the spindle, and thus increase its rigidityand strength. For plate-casters this construction is modified by omitting the neck above the furniture-plate and riveting the spindle over awasher placed in a socket in the furniture-plate, while for separating casters, intended, principally, for bedsteads and similar articles, a longer furniture-socket is employed to give length of bearing to the spindie, and the neck below the furniture-plate is rIhe preferred form of,

omitted, so that when the caster drops apart on lifting the furniture the smooth under surface of the furniture-plate may rest upon the carpet.

The-floor-wheel employed in this caster is preferably of glass, which is valuable by reason of its insulating properties. The glass roller is made substantially as described by me 1n my former application for Letters Patent, iiled on the 30th of August, 188i-, Serial No.4 141,864. I have discovered that in a glass roller made,as described in said application,with a conical ground axial opening, I may employ a correspondingly-shaped bushing of some anti-friction nietal-such as brass or Babbitt metl al-wlxich,when covered with cement and driven into place, will be held in so rigidly asto prevent withdrawal without breaking the roller. The bushing is preferably driven in solid, and the axial opening for the axlespindle bored subsequently, so as to insure a true bearing for said spindle.

In order that my invention may be more fully understood, I will proceed to describe it with reference to the accompanying drawings, 1n Which FigureI is a perspective View from the rear of the preferred form of my invention as applied to stem-casters. Fig. II is a rear elevation of the caster,with one floor-wheel removed and the other in vertical section. Fig. III isa lvertical section of a caster, showing the antifriction-wheel bearing in side elevation. Fig. IV is a similar view of the. invention as applied to a plate-caster. Fig. V is a similar View of a separating caster embodying my invention. Fig. VI is a similar view of a modied form of plate-caster in which the means of attachment of the axle to the furniture-plate is the reverse of that shown in the previous figures. preferred form of the floor-roller.

The axle-piece 1 of my improved caster in all the forms here shown is cast in one piece, with upwardly-projecting lugs 2, providing bearing for the horizontal pin 3, upon which is j ournaled the vertical anti-friction wheel or roller 4, situated directly above the axial line of the door-wheel axle. Below said axial line and transverse thereto is cast or bored a cylindrical bearing for the cylindrical arm 5 of Fig. VII is an axial section of the4 ICO the spindle 6. The said bearing may be extended both forward and in rear of the axle in the form of necks 7 8, against the former of which abuts an annular shoulder, 9, upon the spindle to keep the proper relative distance between thespindleand theaxle. The necks 7 8 provide a long bearing for the spindle-arm, resulting in greaterstrength and almost frictionless oscillation. The whole axle-piece, as well as its spindles 10, being cast of malleable iron, the ready attachment of the same to the floorwheels 11 is effected by riveting the ends of the spindles over washers 12,which bear inwardly against shoulders 13 on the spindles to prevent binding on the floor-wheels due to careless riveting. A similar connection is made between the spindle-arm 5 5and the axle, the whole spindle being preferably made of malleable or wrought iron, and having a stud, 14, which is riveted over a washer, 15, when the caster is put together. Astrong and light caster, having the parts which sustain the strain made wholly of malleable and wrought iron, is thus produced. The effect of placing the oscillating movement immediately underneath the axle is not only to secure greater strength, but to prevent that tipping action of the wheels which is one of the main detrimental features of oscillating two wheel casters in which the oscillating movement is placed at some distance above the level of the axle. The nearer the oscillating bearing is brought to the floor the more nearly will the point of application of force lie in a line with that of resistance, and the less will be the tendency to tip the axle, and consequently the less danger there will be of stoppage of swiveling of the caster and consequent breakage due to binding between the wheel-housing and furniture plate or spindle.

The spindle employed in the present caster is bent at right angles, and its vertical partis formed solid to engage in a socket, 16, fixed to the furniture, as shown in Figs. I, II, and V, inclusive; or hollow, to receive a pin or stud, 17, projecting downward from the furnitureplate 18, as shown in Fig. VI. It will be seen that the mechanical result of thetwo constructions is id entical-namely, to hold the spindle to an upright position,\vhile allowingit slight vertical movement. Such vertical movement is necessary in the form of caster here shown, in which the whole weight of the furniture rests upon avertical anti-friction roller. The liberty of such relative movement ofthe spindle and its socket is here shown somewhat exaggerated. In a caster of ordinary construction the relative movement of these parts will probably be somewhere in the neighborhood of a thirty-second of an inch.

For stem-casters the construction shown in Figs. I, II, and III is preferablyemployed. In

p this form the furniture-plate 18 is provided with both upwardly and downwardly projecting necks 16 16, so as to afford bearing for them at the top and bottom of the spindle, securingby this means greater strength and freedom of swiveling. In this, as well as other forms of caster here shown, the spindle is arranged to bear only on the extreme upper and lower ends of the socket by reason of shoulders 19 20, Vformed either on the spindle or its socket, or both. In the non-separating casters shown in Figs. III and VI the spindle is retained in its socket by means of a screw or stud, 21, engaging the head or projection 19.

For plate-casters the upper neck, 16, of the socket is dispensed with, as shown in Fig. IV, and the spindle retained in place by riveting the stud 22, at the top of the spindle, over a washer, 23, placed in a socket in the upper face of the furniture-plate. An equivalent arrangement to this is shown in Fig. VI, the spindle and socket being simply reversed in position and having precisely the same action.

In Fig.Vis shown the application of the invention to a separating caster intended for bedsteads and like purposes. In this the lower neck, 16a, is dispensed with, and the upper neck, 16, may be made of greater length, as here shown, so as to provide a long bearing for the spindle.

It will be seen that the various forms of casters here shown may be used on various kinds of floor-wheels. I prefer, however, to employ aglass roller by reason of the valuable insulating properties of such a roller. 'Iheglass portion of the roller is made in the manner described in my application No. 141,864, already referred to. Vhen the axial opening in the glass is formed and ground to an accurate frusto-conical shape, I drive therein a solid bushing, 24, Fig.VII, made of suitable anti-friction metal-such as brass or Babbitt-cemented on the outside, so as to be held firmly inv place. Then in place, an axial bearing, 25, is bored in the said bushing for the reception of the spindle of the floor-wheel axle.

Having thus described myinvention, the following is what I claim as new therein and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In a two-wheel oscillating caster, an axle supporting the iloor-wheels, having a transverse cylindrical bearing below the axis of said wheels, and a spindle having an arm occupying said bearing, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In an oscillating caster, the combination, with two hoor-wheels and an anti-friction roller and spindle havingahorizontal arm, of an axle having trunnions for the floor-wheels and bearing for the vertical anti-friction wheel or wheels also formed integrally with the axle, and a transverse cylindrical bearing for the spindlearm below the center of the floor-wheels, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination,with an axle-piece made of malleable or Wrought iron, and having trunnions and bearings for the floor-wheels and anti-friction roller, respectively, formed integrally therewith, of a malleable or wrought iron spindle occupying a socket in the axle, and connected to said axle by riveting, substantially as described.

IOO

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a rigid downward projection engaging with the projection from the arm in the axle or housingin such a manner as to allow vertical movement between the two.

6. In a caster, the combination,with the spindie having;` a horizontal arm, of an axle haw ing a transverse bearing for said arm,

neck or extension surrounding said arm, substantially as and for the purpose set forthm STEPHEN O. MENDENHALL.

Vitiiesses:

HARRY E. KNIGHT,

GEO. L. VHEELOCK.

and a 2o 

